Electrohydraulic valve operating mechanism



Jan. 15, 1952 C, MOREY 2,582,556

ELECTROHYDRAULIC VALVE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed' April 14, 1945 3 SheetsSheet l Jan. 15, 1952 C, MOREY 2,582,556

ELECTROHYDRAULIC VALVE OPERATING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 14, 1945 i, up

Jan. 15, 1952 c. MOREY 2,52556 ELECTROHYDRAULIC VALVE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 14, 1945 v.3 Sheets-Sheet 3 f/zvefzfor Car'lforg imc W24/JM Patented Jan. 15, 1952 UNI'IEDV STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTR'QHYDRAULIC VALVE OPERATING MECHANISM Carl Morey, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to Economy Pumps, Inc.,v Hamilton, Ohio, Va corporation-fv Application April 14, 194-5, Serial No. 588,340

which a substantial impact occurs for dislodging I' the valve or gateV from a tight fitting or set closing position.

It is a further object ofl this invention 'to provide a safety feature that will allow the operating motor to run momentarily after the valve has been closed or opened Without injury to. parts, and in which the mechanism may be put in operation by remote control to eliminate'electric devices in explosive areas.

With these and other objects in view, Athis in- IV vention comprises the novel structure and combination of parts hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred form of this invention and in which similar reference numerals refer tol similar features in the different views:

Fig. 1 is a part diagrammatic, part elevational and part sectional view of a valve operating mechanism involving this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of a housing containing the mechanism;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional View of thevhousing, and Y Fig. 4 is an elevational and diagrammatic View illustrating an improved modification of the invention. v f v In referring now to the drawing, especiallyto Fig. 1, there is shown an electric motor 4 having a shaft 5 upon which a pump gear B is secured which meshes with a second pump gear -1 of such a gear pump as is disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 583,434, filed March 19, 1945, now abandoned. One side of this pump is connected to suction pipes 8 which etxend to a source of oil or fluid supply 9. The lower end of this pipe 8 is preferably provided with a fluid inlet valve I0 which allows fluid to enter, but'not to escape. n

The other or discharge side of this-pump is connected by a pipe I-I with a reversing valve I 2 provided with a valve stem I3` adapted tO be Opel'- ated by a solenoid I4. This valve stem carries two spaced valve discs I5 and I6 which control 5 Claims. (Cl. GII-53) the flow therefrom. In the present position of the valve, the fluid entering the same, will escape through pipe I1 and enter upon one .side of hydraulic motor I8 comprising a large central gear I9 and side gears 2B and 2l meshing there- 'with as disclosed in my said copending applicae 'tion .583,434 filed March 19, 1945. The inlets and outlets of this hydraulic motor may be connected cy oblique conduits 22 and 3Y shown in dotted lines.

The gear 'I9 is secured upon a shaft 24 which has a small pinion 25 thereon which meshes with `'a large. gear 2S which is mounted to rotate freely around a valve shaft 21 which is suitably threaded as .indicated at 22 for operating a gate valve for a manhole or the like. The gear 26 has a lug or abutment 29. upon its upper face which may be in the form 'of Aa segment of a circle of suitable extent. The Vends of this lug 29 `afford shoulders forv engagement by an arm 30 secured upon the vupper end of the shaft 21. VIn the present instance; the lug 29 is ofA such an extent as to provide a lost motion of substantially 300 degrees for arm' 3i).

' As aresult of this construction when the'motor is started, for'opening the gate valve, Ythe gear 26 will rotate about 30G `degrees before it becomes .clutched to shaft 21 through lug 29 and arm 30 vfor picking up the load, at `which time the motor Awill have'acquired sunicient speed for causing lug 29 vto impart a sufficiently powerful impact against the arm 30 for starting the screw shaft 21 and dislodging the gate. valve or the like from -its seat.

linthe position of the parts as shown in Fig. 1, the huid or oil which is preferably used is designed to be Vdischarged from the hydraulic motor I8 through a pipe 3l which connects with the reversing Valve I2' below pipe I1. A discharge pipe 92 extends from the reversing valve for conveying the-returned uid to the tank 9. When the reversing valve is reversed, the oil will pass therefrom through pipe 3| to the hy draulic motor Yill which will be rotated in the opposite direction for rotating gear 26 in the opposite direction and causing lug 29 to travel idly for about 300 Adegrees until it engages the opposite side of arm 3. .During this reverse rotation, .the oil from the hydraulic motor I8 will be discharged through pipe I1 into reversing valve .I2 from which it will .escape through passage 33 to the .lower end of the valve housing and then through pipe 32 `totank 3.

The pipe I1 is connected 4with pipe 32 by afiow pipe or connection 34 including a check. valve 35 which opens toward pipe 32. Likewise, the pipe 3l is connected to pipe 32 by a pipe or flow connection 36 which also contains a check valve 35.

The inlet port 31 of each check valve normally closed by a ball 38 which is yieldingly held against its seat by a coil spring 39, the tension of which may be adjusted by means of a screw 48 threaded in the end of the check valve and having a head 4I, pressing against the spring. Accordingly, these relief valves maybe adjusted to increase or decrease the pressures in the pipes I'i and SI when feeding fluid to the hydraulic motor and to also protect the pump and hydraulic motor against overload and injury.

The aforementioned solenoid I4 is in circuit with a source of energy 42 and the electric motoi` 4 through the conductors 43, 44, 45 and 46, the latter of which are controlled by switches 41 and 48 which of course may be at any remote point. The solenoid is controlled by the switch 48 as is readily apparent.

The solenoid I4 moves the valve rod in one direction against the tension of spring I3a which moves the same in the other direction when released by the solenoid.

In Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown a housing 49 embodying the mechanism just described and which. is supported upon the valve bonnet 12a, At the upper end of this housing there is a seat 58 for the motor 4 which is coupled to the shaft 5 having the gear 6 thereon of the fiuid pump. This shaft 5 is journalled in a bearing and port blockv 5I below the seat and the fluid pump with its casing 52 is confined between the bearing 5I and a lower block 53 by means of the screw bolts 54.

The housing is provided with an oil or fluid chamber 9 from which feed pipe 8 having an inlet valve I at its lower end extends into the bearingblock I where it communicates with a passage 54a in said block. The passage 54a communicates with a passage 55 leading to the uid pump.

The fluid pump 6-1 discharges through a passage 56.. shown in dotted lines which communicates with a passage 51 leading to the reversing valve I2 previously described. The reversing valve discharges the returned oil through passage 58 leading to the oil chamber 9. It will be noted that the passages 54a, 55, 51 and 58 are al1 formed in the bearing block 5I which while separate from the housing constitutes a part thereof.

Below the reversing valve I2, there is suitably mounted the hydraulic motor I8 between the seat 59 and a top block 60 by means of the screw bolts SI. The driven shaft 24 of the hydraulic motor Awhich is shown integral with gear I9 has a vsocket 62 in its upper end in which the lower end of a shaft 63 is secured. The shaft 63 carries a worm y64 at its upper end which drives a shaft 65 journalled in a bearing block 66 rising above the block 58. The shaft 65 carries a small pinion 61 which drives a gear 68 secured on a shaft 69 ,iournallecl in the block and extending therebeyond. A pointer 18 is mounted upon the outer end of shaft 69 and moves over a dial 1I upon the vertical face of block 66.

Any rotation of hydraulic motor shaft 24 will obviously cause rotation of the pointer over the dial for indicating the position of the gate valve I2 (Fig. 2) on the lower end of the screw shaft 21 which is rotated by the motor and which has a collar 21h resting upon the. (21,116 bonnet 12a. Y 1

The housing 49 has a frame member 13 which forms the seat 59 for the hydraulic motor I8 and which extends upwardly against the bearing and port block 5I. The reversing valve I2 is adapted to communicate with the hydraulic motor I8 by means of passages in block 5I and frame member 13 in accordance with the teachings of Fig. 1. In Fig. 3, there is shown in dotted lines a passage I1 in frame member 13 leading from block 5I to a point below the hydraulic motor I 8 and then through passages 14a and 14h to one side of the hydraulic motor. The upper end of this passage I1 communicates with the reversing valve through a passage not shown. Such passages may be duplicated between the reversing valve and the hydraulic motor to the other side of said hydraulic motor. In View of Fig. 1, it appears unnecessary to fully illustrate such passages in Fig. 3, nor the relief valves.

Rotation of shaft 24 through hydraulic motor I8 will cause rotation of gear 25 on shaft 24 which in turn will rotate gear 26 carrying lug 29 around for impact with arm 39 extending from a cap piece 15 on shaft 21 which shrouds the bearings 16 between the gear 28 and a bearing sleeve 11 rising from the lower part of the housing; in which sleeve 11 the shaft 21 is joui'- nalled in any suitable manner. In the present instance,l a gate valve as indicated in Fig. 2 is adapted to have a threaded relation with said shaft, but it will be evident that various kinds of valves may be operated by said shaft.

In Fig. '4, there is shown a modified form of the invention wherein an electric reversing motor 88 is used and the reversing valve is eliminated. In this view the motor is shown coupled to the shaft 5 which is connected to gear 6 of the gear pump. The gear 6 drives gear 1 of the pump which is similar to the one previously described. One side of this pump is connected by suitable piping 8| with an oil tank 82. A check valve I0 is preferably secured to the lower end of this piping and a relief valve 83 which discharges into the tank through a pipe 84 is connected to an intermediate portion of said piping.

The other side of the pump is connected by piping 85 with the oil tank 82. A check valve I0 is preferably secured to the lower end of the piping 85 and a relief valve 83 which discharges into'the tank 82 through pipe 84 is connected to an intermediate point of said piping. Thus it will be evident that the pump can draw oil from the tank through either pipe 8I or 85 depending upon the direction of rotation of the motor 88.

Each relief valve 83 has an inlet port 86 ners mally closed by a ball valve 81 which is yield--4 ingly held against its seat by a coil spring the tension of which maybe adjusted by screw 89 threaded in the end of the housing and having an inner head 90 engaging said spring. By adjusting these screws,`the valves can be adjusted for varying the pressure in the system.

The piping 8l is connected by a pipe 9i with one side of a hydraulic motor I8 of the type previously set forth, while the piping 85 is connected by a pipe 92 with the other side of the hydraulic motor I8. The hydraulic meter I8 comprises a large central gear I9 which meshes with the side gears 2 8 and 2l as in the rst form. And the inlets and outlets' of this motor are connected by the grooves 22 and 23.

A shaft 24 is connected to the gear I8 and carries'aA pinion 25 which meshes with a large driven segr $31 which rotates 'freely about a screw' shaft i @sessie 21 to which a gate valve or'the'iilre is adapted to be attached. The upper face of :the gear 93 is provided with an arcuate groove rterminating in a shoulder 95 at each end. In the present instance, this groove is about 180 degrees in extent, but this may be varied as desired.

The shaft 27 extends above the gear 93 and carries an angular arm 96 fast thereon at its upper end. The lower end of said arm extends into said groove and .is adapted -for engaging either of the shoulders 95 of said groovefor coupling the shaft with the gear 93 for conjcintrotation. It will be'appreciated that acccording to this cone struction, the gear 93 will rotate idly substantially 180 degrees before picking up arm 9d and the load. This allows the motorfii to attain sui",- cient speed and power before vthe loa-d is picked up and at the same time a -sufiiciently powerful impact will be imparted to arm 96 to start the rotation of'shaft 21 against any holding tendency of the gate valve or the like. vThus a lost motion impact producing connection betweenthe screw shaft and gear has been provided as in the first instance. But the impact is cushioned to a certain extent by the uid driving means.

In using this modified form, it is contemplated to connect shaft 24 or gear .I9 with a 'pointer 'is and dial ll as shown in Fig. 3 for indicating the position of the gate valve lwhether it is closed or open or in an intermediate position, since it can be started or stopped in any rposition by manipw lation of push button switchesl which can be located at any convenient or remote point.

To this end there is shown diagrammatically a push button switch 91 having an opening button 9S and a closing button 99. The switch is connected with the motor 8D for the wires i043 and IDI and with a source of energy |92 through conductors |03 and |04 and main switch H25. The source of energy is connected with the motor through wire |96 for completing the circuit.

To open the gate valve, it is only necessary to push the button 98 for starting the motor 80 in the proper direction for opening the valve, and keeping it pressed down until the valve is opened or opened as far as desired, which will be indicated on the dial. To close the valve, the push button 99 will be pressed and kept pressed until the valve is closed during which period the motor will be running in the reverse direction. But if the push button should not be released in time, the motor can continue to run without damage since the fluid can escape through a relief valve.

It will be noted that when piping 92 is feeding oil to the hydraulic motor, piping 9| is returning oil to the pump 6 1 and when piping 9i is feeding oil, piping 92 is returning oil to the pump. Thus it will be evident that this system is in fact a reversible circulating system which is kept constantly replenished by drawing whatever oil is necessary from the tank 82.

It will be appreciated that by adjusting the relief valves, a predetermined closing and opening force can be obtained and that this force can be varied. It will also be evident that the fluid system herein will eliminate injury from any source due to the safety features described. At the same time, the starting impact imparted to the valve shaft serves an important function in jarring the gate valve for ready movement, while the reaction to the impact will be cushioned to some extent by the iluid driving means. In addtion, the possible remote push button control and the indicating means combine to produce effective and, ready operation.

I am awa-re lthat many changes may be made and various details of 'construction may be modifled without departing from the principles of this invention, so I do not propose limiting the patent granted thereon necessitated by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1.In va valve operating housing having a bottom seat adapted to be supported upon a valve bonnet, a valve stem extending through said bottom seat and'into said housing, a sleeve-like bearing extending upwardly from said seat and surrounding said stem, a gear journalled upon said bearing sleeve and having an abutment upon its upper face, a skirt upon the upper end of said valve stem and extending over thev upper end of 'tor in said housing having a gear in mesh with said'rst mentioned gear, a bearing block in the .top of said housing, a pump bolted to the bottom of said bearing block, the interior of said housing forming a fluid chamber, a iluid inlet pipe extending from said chamber into said bearing block, said bearing block having a flow passage from said inlet pipe to said pump and an outlet flow passage fromysaid pump .and valve means connecting said outlet passage with said hydraulic motor.

2. In a valve operating unit comprising a vertical housing having a bottom seat adapted to be supported upon a valve bonnet and inolosing the operating mechanism, a valve stem extending through said seat 'and into said housing, a sleeve-like bearing extending upwardly from said seat and surrounding said stem, a gear journalled upon said bearing sleeve and having an abutment upon its upper face, a skirt secured upon the upper end of said stem and overlying said sleeve bearing and having an arm in the path of said abutment, supporting means in said housing, a hydraulic motor supported by said supporting means and having a gear in mesh with said first mentioned gear, a bearing block in the top of said housing having a bottom seat, a pump secured to said bottom seat, a valve in said housing having communication with said hydraulic motor, said housing forming a uid chamber, a fluid inlet pipe extending from said chamber to said bearing block and said block having a fluid passage extending from said inlet pipe to said pump and a iluid passage from said pump to said valve.

3. In a valve operating unit comprising a housing having a bottom seat adapted for resting upon a valve bonnet and inclosing the valve operating mechanism, said seat having a vertically extending sleeve-like bearing, a valve stem extending through said seat and bearing and into said housing, a gear journalled upon said bearing sleeve and having a lug upon its upper face, means secured upon the upper end of said stem and having an arm in the path of said lug, a hydraulic motor in said housing having a gear in mesh with said first mentioned gear, a bearing block in the top of said housing, a pump secured to the bottom of said bearing block, a valve in said housing for controlling said hydraulic motor, said housing constituting a uid chamber, a fluid inlet pipe extending from said chamber to said bearing block and said block having fluid passages extending from said pipe to said pump and from said pump to said valve.

4. In a valve operating unit comprising a housing having a bottom seat adapted for resting upon a valve bonnet, said seat having an .up

`wardly extending sleeve bearing, a gear journalled upon said sleeve bearing, a valve stem extending through said seat and bearing, a mem b'er secured upon the upper end of said stem,

said member and stem having coacting impact means, an auxiliary housing in said housing, a hydraulic motor mounted in said auxiliary housing and having a gear in meshing relation `with said first mentioned gear, a block in the `upper end of said housing, a pump secured to said block, said housing constituting a fluid chamber, a reversing valve above said hydraulic motor, said block having a uid inlet passage to `said pump and a uid outlet passage to said reversing `valve and means for operating said outlet passage from said pump to said control valve and means on said housing for operating and having a lug upon its upper face, a valve `tuting a fluid chamber, a block in the upper part of said housing, a pump secured to said block,

a control valve for said motor, said block having said pump.

CARL MOREY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 462,762 Ferrell Nov. 10, 1891 468,334 Ferrell Feb. 9, 1892 630,278 Wiley Aug. 1, 1899 1,264,282 Deaving Apr. 30, 1918 1,616,841 Beebe Feb. 8, 1927 1,886,518 Beckwith Nov. 8, 1932 1,994,336 Dawson Mar. 12, 1935 2,028,696 Beckwith Jan. 21, 1936 2,092,019 Randel Sept. 7, 1937 2,232,428 Benedek Feb. 18, 1941 2,268,135' Dornhfer Dec. 30, 1941 2,307,544 Robinson Jan. 5, 1943 2,352,140 Trott June 20, 1944 2,387,215 Fawkes Oct. 16, 1945 2,389,473 Vickers Nov. 20, 1945 2,396,993 Fawkes Mar. 19, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 172,084 Great Britain Nov. 24, 1921 

